A blue tea for your peace and joy
by public static void
Summary: For her Potions exam, first-year Hermione Granger finds her muse in someone she usually disdains. Unknown to her, she's Draco's inspiration too.


_This is for the Snitched Mini-Comp at The Golden Snitch (if you want to be part of our awesome forum, come and join us! Be sure to enrol into Durmstrang!)._

 _My partner was Melissa and while I don't have all the answers for the prompts, I still hope she enjoys this._

 _1) Use your partner's favourite character. [Hermione, Snape, Draco]_

 _2) Base your story around the year your partner's favourite movie is set in. [Any of the first tree. I went with the Philosopher's Stone.]_

 _3) Use your partner's favourite Harry Potter quote as an inspiration for the fic. [I don't know it :(]_

 _4) Use your partner's favourite colour as an important element in the fic [blue, I think?]_

 _5) Set your fic where the class of your partner's favourite (wizarding) subject is held. [I don't know it either, so I'll use a Potions class!]_

* * *

The darkness of the dungeons had always bothered Hermione. She was used to the bright lights and open spaces of well-lit classrooms from elitist schools. Hogwarts was no disappointment to her, but if she could bring something from the muggle world, it would be electricity.

The thought of it evoked the image of lightning, striking blue in her mind and making her shiver. It prompted her to look around, hoping no one had seen her. A pair of grey eyes met her own for a fleeting moment. Hermione thought she might have been dreaming because the usual contempt in Draco's eyes was missing.

She pursed her lips and shook the distractions out of her mind. She had yet to begin her exam. For this term's note, she had to brew a tea. Hermione smirked cheerily. Professor Snape's assignment was logical from a Potioneer's point of view, but she thought it odd. Professor Snape did not strike her as a man who would enjoy tea time, and a small giggle came to her lips when she pictured him sipping from phials in order to grade them.

"Something funny, Miss Granger?" the Professor asked, always the vigilant one when he wanted to deduct points. Hermione shook her head and lowered her eyes. "Then apply yourself. This might be an easy exam, but if any of you mess it up I will make sure you don't move forward to a second year at our prestigious school."

She wasn't intimidated by his threat, firm in the confidence she had on herself and the knowledge she had acquired not only in Potions class but also during Herbology. She would ace this test.

Now, she had to find out what to brew. Grabbing quill and parchment, Hermione thought of the possibilities.

Her first instinct told her to brew something for herself. Maybe use basil and honeysuckle for creativity. As soon as she wrote that, she scratched the words with the quill and sighed.

Around her, some people were already mixing herbs together and she could see Neville was doing well. Harry and Ron were, as usual, panicking and she wrote chamomille for meditation and sage for wisdom on her parchment. They could use it very well.

Nevertheless, she striked those words too.

Hermione looked around again and her eyes fell over Draco. He was enveloped in bright blue fumes coming from his cauldron; he must have been using elderflower.

Like a spark —or a specially strong and blue lightning bolt— she knew what she must brew.

She wrote down six herbs, noting how they would interact together, before getting them from the 'kitchen cabinet'. She smiled at the name she gave that shelf, for all of the potion ingredients in it were edible on their own, though some were surely toxic in great quantities.

Carefully, she balanced the different jars and boxes all the way to her cauldron and set them on her desk. She took away the leaves and stems that looked too worn, wanting only the best for her tea.

Measuring them was important too. Too much lavender would induce sleepiness or passivity instead of the peace she wanted to transmit in her brew, while too much vervain would transform the positive energies into 'dumb luck', something that could affect the mind deeply.

At the end, she wrote the perfect recipe.

Dried lavender petals instead of fresh leaves, because she knew Draco needed some peace. He was always looking to antagonize Harry...

Then, Hermione chose to add fresh cornflower petals, delighting in the striking blue color of them. That made her look up to where Draco was working. The fumes of his tea had receeded but blue sparks swirled around him. She saw one of the sparks touch his nose and she giggled but quickly went back to her own brew.

She took only the stems of the vervain plants, chopping them in small pieces and adding them. As soon as she did, her own potion turned blue.

She took the brew out of the fire and let it cool down for three minutes exactly before dissolving dragon's blood powder on it. The lovely blue became purple in a second and it let out a pleasant smell. She wanted to taste it already!

Nettle leaves came at last. Three large leaves fell into the brew and they immediately turned it blue again. It was strange and Hermione frowned. She had thought it would change into a jade-colored liquid.

She took her wand and swirled the potion with a spell. Then, she used one of the few measuring spells Professor Snape had taught them; the faint yellow color of the spell let her know she was on the right track and she let the doubt fall out of her mind.

Her tea was almost ready and only one ingredient was missing: rosemary for courage.

Her rosemary flowers were blue. Draco's potion was blue, too. Hermione smiled as she dropped them in the cauldron. The brew was already cool, yet the whistle coming from it meant it had worked. The brew was a potion and not only a tea. Hermione smiled again and used a spoon to taste it.

She grimaced when the liquid touched her tongue. It was bitter and had a strong taste of 'green'. Hermione frowned before remembering the properties of honey.

Protection was not something Draco needed. He came from a wealthy family and had the law on his side; Ron had said he could have anything he wanted because his father was a corrupt man. Still, Hermione added three teaspoons worth of honey to the mix.

A grin appeared on her face when the brew sizzled. It was blue again and now it tasted right. She felt each of the emotions she had wanted it to evoke, and even if the brew was not intended for her she couldn't help the optimism in her mind and the calm energy of a peaceful afternoon. A last glance at Draco's satisfied smirk told her he could use some of her potion, for as much as he disguised his emotions she could sense the worry and the anxiety coming from him in crashing waves of coldness.

She wrote down the results of the potion, what she intended and what she got, and felt proud of the mix. Hermione thought of adding why she chose those herbs but refused to accept to anyone but herself that she had done it for Draco.

Instead, she poured some of it into two phials: one for her and one for the exam.

"Five minutes."

Snape's voice was met with frantic squeals and even a crash. Neville had dropped his phial and she pitied him. Next time she would brew something for him.

Hermione walked to Professor Snape's desk and politely set her essay and her phial on it. He took a look at her and scorned.

"Blue," he snorted. "First years always go for the calming draughts. Zero points in originality, Miss Granger. Next time brew something for creativity."

She respectfully nodded to him. A suggestion made with mean words was still a suggestion and she would heed it whenever she had time. Still, she wondered if it wouldn't be a good idea if Professor Snape took a sip or two of the tea, too.

"I'll have it in mind, Professor," she added before turning around, almost crashing against Draco, who sneered at her.

She saw his tea, a bright orange brew with blue sparks shining when the light hit it right.

As expected, Snape beamed at the blue on Draco's brew.

Hermione sighed, resigned. She'd never understand Snape, but at least she had done something for Draco even if she never told him.

* * *

Draco watched Granger walk away with an annoyed grimace. She heard the praise coming from Snape the same as he heard their teacher telling her she lacked creativity.

Maybe he didn't tell her. Maybe he didn't even have a **great** potion. Still, Draco had brewed his tea for her.

It had orange peel for fortune, so she could make a name for herself even with the stain of her blood; she was a good witch and it pained him to admit it but at the end of the day even his pride was not bigger than her brilliance.

The tea also had dill leaves for protection; she needed it because there were people like his family who would always try to get rid of mudbloods. Draco would do it too if it was needed of him.

Draco had also added angelica root because Hermione Granger needed more positive energy. He hated her bossy nature and thought that, perhaps, the angelica root would soothe her enough for her to loosen up.

Then, at the very end and almost as an after-thought, Draco had added elderflower. If there was something she needed, it was awareness. Their world was not a fantasy land featured in muggle fairy tales. She could and would be killed if she made enemies, and while right now they were children, they would grow and her words and actions would be condemned because of her blood.

He saw her leave with Potter and Weasley, quickly moving her lips to speak words Draco would never hear.

Next time he might tell her all his work that day was for her.


End file.
